BRIDGEPORT -- They kept filing into the Wonderland of Ice -- girls, boys, teenagers, and a bunch of adults, too. They all came to honor the local girl who grew up into one of her nation's most respected athletes.

Julie Chu received the key to the city and the key to the rink Sunday afternoon. She also received visitors for two hours, signing autographs and talking with everyone who came through the line to meet her.

And everyone, like Lucie and Anna Collimore, of Fairfield, got a chance to hold her heavy (as more than one youngster said) silver medal from this year's Olympic women's hockey competition.

Lucie Collimore said, "She comes from the same place we come from. She kind of went on the path we want to go."

Chu's path often seems to bring her back to Wonderland.

"This is my home, always," Chu said to the crowd. "This is the rink where it all began. This is where I learned to love hockey."

Audrey Choi, 12, of Weston, has done the same, playing for the Wonderland Wizards. She'd been to a few different camps hoping to meet Chu, but had never caught up with her until Sunday.

"She's an inspiration," Choi said. She shows, Choi said, you don't necessarily have to grow up in a certain place or a certain atmosphere to reach the top.

About 300 fans, friends and family members came through the lobby at Wonderland, taking photos with Chu and the medal.

"She wants to give back," said her mother, Miriam Chu. "She does everything she can with every kid."

The kids and their parents cheered when Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch asked how proud they were of Chu.

"Many times we put on the Winter Olympics to see Julie perform marvelously on the big stage," said Finch, who declared Sunday as Julie Chu Day. "A little bit of Bridgeport goes with you. You're a role model.

"It's a great thing to hold up somebody like Julie Chu ... who competed at the collegiate level, played in the Olympics, played for a national championship. She's done every single thing a female athlete can do in the sport of hockey."

She also carried her country's flag in the closing ceremonies in Sochi on Feb. 23.

"I'm still processing (carrying) the flag," Chu said. "To be bestowed with that honor by your teammates is amazing. There are so many talented athletes who could've carried the flag for our nation."

They chose the four-time Olympian, who came agonizingly close to her first gold medal. A bit more luck as a puck slid toward an empty net late in regulation, a bit more luck with some curious officiating in overtime, and the United States could've been Olympic champions for the second time.

The luck went the other way, and Canada tied it late and won it on an overtime power play.

"I'm so proud of our team," Chu said. "Everyone wants to focus on just that one game, the last few minutes, but I'm proud of how much we've grown from 2010 to 2014. We were an improved team.

"The true test of that team is to see how we responded in overtime. We came out and almost won that game right off the bat."

She said she hasn't determined what's next hockey-wise.

"It's such an emotional high at the Olympics; I'm still decompressing," Chu said.

In the meantime, she has traveled a lot, been to the White House twice, given speeches for her corporate sponsors, and finally came home Sunday.

"It's amazing now to be able to share my silver with the Wonderland of Ice and my friends and family," Chu said.